Martial law in South Korea is lifted due to the impeachment of President Yun

South Korea’s opposition parties said Wednesday they have filed a petition to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law.

“We have urgently submitted a prepared statement of impeachment,” representatives of the six opposition parties, including the main Democratic Party, said in a live briefing, adding that they would discuss when to put it to a vote, but it could be as early as Friday.

Parliament staff used sofas and fire extinguishers to block soldiers armed with assault rifles and night vision goggles from entering South Korea’s National Assembly to maintain martial law, surveillance footage released Wednesday showed.

Shortly after President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night — the first in the South in more than four decades — helicopters ferried heavily armed troops to South Korea’s parliament building, footage showed.

Kim Min-ki, secretary-general of the assembly, told reporters at a briefing that other soldiers scaled the perimeter fence after midnight, adding that they then broke windows to enter the building, an “unconstitutional and illegal” invasion.

“We will establish the physical damage and the damage caused by the declaration of martial law and bring those responsible to justice,” he said.

About 280 soldiers entered the parliament building, he said, but were quickly met with resistance from staff who grabbed anything at hand to barricade the entrance and prevent the troops from reaching lawmakers in the debate chamber.

Footage shows dozens of soldiers trying to enter the building, but protesters are pulling them away.

“We are currently assessing the injuries of several people, including parliament staff, during clashes with martial law troops,” Kim said.

He said the soldiers “illegally cordoned off the National Assembly after declaring martial law, violating the Constitution and the law by barring lawmakers.”

“They also trampled the parliament building using military force, inflicting deep wounds in people’s hearts,” he added.

– Fight for the gun –

In one dramatic scene, Ahn Gwi-ryong, spokeswoman for the opposition Democratic Party, fought with a soldier while trying to take his rifle.

The fight lasted more than 10 seconds. After she discharged her weapon, the trooper briefly pointed it at her.

Undeterred, Ahn, a former news anchor, exclaimed, “How are you not ashamed of yourself?” showed footage of the incident.

“I had no choice but to prevent them from entering the main building because the martial law blocking resolution was submitted,” Ahn told AFP on Wednesday.

Under South Korea’s constitution, if the parliament asks to lift martial law, the president must comply, and experts believe soldiers were sent to prevent the vote from taking place.

While soldiers in the compound tried to break into the building, police cordoned off the gates of the meeting, trying to prevent members of parliament from entering.

“Some MPs had to climb over the fence to get inside to vote for the resolution,” opposition lawmaker Shin Chang-sik told AFP.

Not all people’s deputies managed to get to the parliament. Lee Jung-seok, another opposition lawmaker, was stopped by police officers guarding the gate.

“Now you’re obstructing the official duties of a lawmaker,” Lee can be heard shouting on the footage, but he was still not allowed inside.

– Go home, bastards! –

When soldiers entered parliament, they found the door to the main chamber barricaded with piles of furniture installed by parliamentary staff, CCTV footage showed.

The video shows soldiers rushing toward the barricaded gates with their rifles aimed at the unarmed employees, who continue to stack office chairs and tables in their path.

“Go home, you bastards!” shouted one employee as another protester fired a fire extinguisher at the soldiers.

Behind the crowd of staff were dozens of camera flashes capturing the surreal moment.

It was only after the adoption of a resolution to lift martial law, passed around 1:00 a.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT), that the soldiers began to retreat.

They completed their retreat at two o’clock in the morning, leaving behind broken windows and broken furniture, but without a single shot being fired.